Narrowing your choices, and making up your mind

“The Literary Book of Answers”
by Carol Bolt
Hyperion, New York, 2000


“To be or not to be?” That was Hamlet’s question, as he was caught in a dilemma, seeking an answer to an existential question: shall he choose death, or shall he face a “sea of troubles?”

Hamlet’s soliloquy has survived the test of time. Reason: We creatures and actors of the 21st century have become more and more indecisive because we are faced with a lot lot more options. Not only that. Life has become more and more complex.

Joe Griffith, a renowned public speaker in the United States said: “It’s harder to make decisions today than it ever has been. When I was a kid, there was a soda fountain in a drugstore near my house. They only three flavors – vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. It was easy to decide. Today when I go into an ice cream store, they have ten times more choices, and I have trouble deciding.”

Here at home, in the not so distant past, we had the simple choices of coffee, tea or … me!? And then, it was a choice between instant coffee and brewed coffee. Today, Starbucks or Seattle’s Best keep you standing at the counter deciding brewed or not brewed, short or tall, flavored or not-flavored, hot or cold, caffeinated or decaffeinated, brewed decaf or instant decaf, hot or cold capuccino – and so on with infinite choices of taste and aroma.

The paradox of the times, however, is that decisions have to be made faster now than ever before. Lee Iacocca, the guy who saved Chrysler, makes clear his bias for quck decision-making by making this requirement from his management team: “The qualities than make a good manager is decisiveness.”

“Whenever I make a bum decision, I just go out and make another,” said former U.S. President Harry S. Truman. This was the same man who ordered the bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You cannot make a bum decision for so huge a consequence. The advice of Robert Townsend of Avis and author of “Up the Organization,” is a safer one: “Make quick decisions on small risks,” especially when you can change your mind afterwards with minimal losses.

Speaking of quick decisions on small risks, the book “The Literary Book of Answers” provides you an enjoyable exercise in decision-making. Running about 600 pages, has one-liners per page to provide you answers to your questions on keeping or losing some thing like love or any other object of desire, buying or selling a thing of value like a car or a dream house, pursuing higher education or “being just where you are.”

Authored by Carol Bolt, who introduces herself in a book as a “professional artist living in Seattle,” suggests a simple exercise to use the book and thus speed up decision-making. Step 1: Hold the closed book in your hand, on your lap, or on a table; step 2: Take 10 or 15 seconds to concentrate on your question. Questions should be phrased closed-end. E.g., “Is the job I am applying for the right one?”. Steps 3 and 4 give you two final procedures.

Executive Read tried this on friends and associates in the office and here are the results: On an executive’s question, “Shall I enroll in a Ph.D. class this semester? – the answer is this: “Is that what you want?” – which is a quote from James Baldwin, author of “Another County.” A man, hooked on toys for the big boys, asked: “Shall I buy a Pajero?” That answer came from James Fenimore Cooper, author of “The Last of Mohicans”: “What is ordered must sooner or later arrive.” (The dreamy-eyed friend just could not disagree!)

A newly-hired executive assistant in the office queried: “Will I have career growth in my new job?” The answer came from Lewis Carroll, author of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” A senior communication associate whispered a question about an erring beloved: “Will I take him back?” The answer was a riddle from Confucius but definitely made the associate smile: “The way is to be found.”

There is a chance that you don’t want the answer. There’s a chance too when you relish an answer especially when it reinforces a fervent wish. To one nervous question, the answer was clear and unequivocal from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from the “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “Excellent, Watson, Excellent.” Now, you know that this book can be your handy ally when you are getting someone to say yes to your proposition.

Is this book useful at all? The answer to that question is a story on Sigmund Freud, the famous psychoanalyst. Freud and his niece once discussed how difficult it was for some people to make a decision. He said, “I’ll tell you what I tell them. I ask them to toss a coin.”

His niece said, “I can’t believe it. You, a man of science, guided by senseless chance!” Sigmund answered, “I did not say you should follow blindly what the coin tells you. What I want you to do is to note what the coin indicates. Then look into your own reactions. Ask yourself: Am I pleased? Am I disappointed? That will help you to recognize how you really feel about the matter, deep down inside. With that as a basis, you’ll then be ready to make up your mind and come to the right decision.”

Getting literary giants to narrow your choices and help you make up your mind must be better than tossing a coin. You bet?